P10 Temp Setting Not Accurate

[PemexJoe]

Just purchased a Bradley P10 smoker.
Did two spatchcock chicken dinners so far but have noticed an issue with the heat/temp settings.

Originally, I set the P10 to 300F and when the P10 hit that temp the other thermo showed 244F

I then set the smoker to 320F and the other thermo showed a temp of 289F.

The 3rd party probe is and Inkbird IBT-4XS BBQ Thermometer Bluetooth Meat Thermometers.

Each image below (if the Link to GDrive works) was taken 10 min after the P10 set temp was reached.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1glRbc9mE-JsJgkq4IEf81LJf6553hpwq?usp=sharing


The issue I have is that the 3rd party temp probes shows the inside temp 30F to 56F +/- lower than the P10 shows on the front.

Which one do I trust?

I have just ordered yet another 3rd party meat thermometer and will re-test the temp differences between P10 and 3rd party probes.

Has anyone else had this issue?

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi PemexJoe;

Welcome to the forum.

I kind of have a similar issue with the difference in Bradley reading and my Thermoworks Signal. At first I was getting differences in an empty cabinet, that were similar to yours. Over time the readings between my third party and Bradly reading are about 15F degrees different. I'm not sure, but I believe the P10, overtime recalibrates itself, during use.

There could be various reasons. The placement of your probes is crucial. It is normal for any smoker (cooking device) to have hot and cooler spots. The next time you run a test, place one of your third-party probes close to the Bradley sensor, to see if the temperatures match. Also, if a probe is too close to the meat, some say within one inch, others say two inches, the moisture evaporating from the meat will lower the cooking temperature around the meat, of up to 30F degrees. A probe too close to the walls can be affected by radiant heat, and read higher.

Test your third-party probes, either using the boiling water or ice water test. Granted you may not find a 30 degree discrepancy, but there could be a discrepancy of up to 5 degrees.

You could do a "Biscuit Test", to find the hot spots of the P10. Just google that, and you will find instructions on how to do it. For the P10 I would use a temperature of 300F, and to save some money I use white bread instead.

It is important to learn how the P10 cooks, and you can adjust your settings accordingly.

[PemexJoe]

Thank you for your reply.  I will place my probe closer to the unit probe.
I received another 3rd party thermo and will place it somewhere too.

I truly hope the system adjusts it over time.
I will keep you posted.

[Habanero Smoker]

I would be interested in your findings.

Even if the temperature doesn't match the third party, I find that the P10 keeps very steady temperatures. There are no high or low swings in temperatures. So I have adjusted my cooking style to accommudate the differences in temperature. I'll either set my temperature either higher or lower, depending on past third party readings, or adjust my cooking times, and monitor the food internal temperature more closely. But like I mentioned earlier, my readings are about 15 - 20 degrees different.